New trial date set in 2008 baby death

Court of Appeals overturned 2009 murder conviction

Updated 8:25 pm, Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union archive) less

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. (Skip ... more

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. Thomas, second from left, is joined by: Jerome Frost, left, attorney Steve Coffey, second from right, and Rensselaer County Public Defender John Turi, right. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union archive) less

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. Thomas, second ... more

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union archive) less

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / ... more

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. Thomas, second from left, is joined by: Jerome Frost, left, attorney Steve Coffey, second from right, and Rensselaer County Public Defender John Turi, right. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union archive) less

Adrian Thomas, the Troy father whose murder conviction was reversed by the New York State Court of Appeals, appears in Rensselear County Court Wednesday afternoon, March 5, 2014, in Troy, N.Y. Thomas, second ... more

A May trial date was set and a defense attorney assigned Wednesday for Adrian Thomas, whose 2009 murder conviction in the death of his 4-month-old son was thrown out two weeks ago by the state's highest court.

More Information

Frost appealed the verdict to the state Supreme Court Appellate Division, which upheld the conviction in 2012. He then asked leave to have the state Court of Appeals hear his arguments.

In a 19-page ruling Feb. 20, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman ordered the new trial for Thomas, ruling that police "completely undermined" his right to remain silent using "highly coercive deceptions" during two interviews lasting 9½ hours inside an interrogation room at Troy's Central Police Station.

It took jurors the better part of two days to watch the tapes.

The taped evidence will be barred from the retrial.

On the tapes, detectives falsely told Thomas more than 60 times that the severe head injuries to his son Matthew that caused brain swelling were accidental.

They also told Thomas that if he explained what happened, he would not be arrested and could go home, which was not true.

They threatened to arrest Thomas' wife, Wilhelmina Hicks, if Thomas did not take responsibility for the crime. Investigators also continually asked Thomas to provide them information on how the child was injured so doctors could keep his son alive – although Matthew was brain-dead and his death was imminent.

Thomas eventually confessed he "slammed" his infant son on a low-lying mattress three times in the week preceding Matthew's injuries on Sept. 21, 2008.